Hi Everyone.
Hard to believe it is July already. Here in New Zealand it is winter and recently we have had a lot of foggy, wet days in the Waikato area where I live. Hopefully most of you will be experiencing much nicer weather. I have been really busy at work, but would have loved to be able to make the most of this weather to stay home by the fire and sew.
For my blocks this month I have chosen a Halloween themed Bear's Paw Block. This is my (partially revised) tutorial from 2024 and I have decided to ask for more blocks so that I can get my quilt top completed. Along with Halloween fabrics I am happy for you to use fabrics that include bugs, moths, cats, black and whites, trees, etc and colours that give a bit of a Halloween vibe. I have included some of these in my blocks. If you are concerned about not having enough Halloween type fabric, I am happy for you to make the 4 individual paw blocks and send them to me without your sashing attached. That way I will be able to add in some of my fabrics and mix up the blocks. So please feel free to repeat fabrics if necessary.
The tutorial I used is a Free Tutorial by Generations Quilt Patterns. Here is the link Bears Paw Quilt Block Pattern: Instructions in 3 Sizes (generations-quilt-patterns.com)
They have 3 different size options and the one we will use is the 14" Finished Block with some variations. They have a great tutorial, although there are a lot of ads which make it a bit harder to read. They also have great instructions for making 8-at-a-time half square triangles which is a big time saver. You do need to refer back to the size chart as they use measurements for a smaller block when teaching this method.
I also decided to use a thinner sashing, and wanted a mix of little squares and large squares for the paw blocks, so please refer to the cutting instructions below. Our unfinished block size will be 13.25" square. My blocks both ended up about 1/8" smaller so don't worry if your block varies a little bit also.
Here are my blocks I have made and also blocks I received from everyone last year. Unfortunately I never received a block from one lady, but Helen kindly made me an extra block. So I have two which I made and received 10 more.
Fabrics and Cutting Instructions
Piece | Fabric | Qty | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | A | 1 | 1¼" x 1¼" | ||
2 | B | 4 8 | 4½" x 4½" 2½" x 2½" | ||
3** | C | 2 | 6¼" x 6¼" | ||
4** | Background | 2 | 6¼" x 6¼" | ||
5 | Background | 4 | 1¼" x 6½" | ||
6 | Background | 4 | 2½" x 2½" | ||
Unfinished Block Size | 13¼" | ||||
**These are the oversized patches that will be trimmed to perfection AFTER stitching.
- Fabric A is a small square which can be coloured or black n white
- Fabric B - Halloween Fabric (or other fabrics as suggested)
- Fabric C - Black n White, Black, or Black n Grey
- Background - White or Off White Low volume fabric - with interesting black or grey details if you have it.
For the paw I have used 2 x 4.5" squares and in the other 2 squares I have used 4 x 2.5" squares. I like the scrappiness of this to add extra fussy cuts or even just to add a touch of colour. So if you don't have any prints to cut, I am happy if you just use plain or textured colours here.
Hopefully you can all have fun making these blocks. I have not had the chance to just play with fabrics like this in a very long time and actually really enjoyed making these as they are not my usual fabric of choice.
Please note that Helen's version of these in January had wider sashing than mine and her blocks were a bit larger.
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